Pool board to select amenities for pool design

With the pool contract approved, Shawnee officials have begun the next step of the Shawnee Municipal Pool renovation.

Carmen Bourlon

With the pool contract approved, Shawnee officials have begun the next step of the Shawnee Municipal Pool renovation.

“The next step is coming up with a design, and there’s many steps involved in that,” Director of Operations James Bryce said.

Bryce, along with the pool committee, met with individuals from Water’s Edge Aquatic Design to discuss different options for the pool outside of recreational swimming. Options varied from basic to elaborate.

“The more elaborate you go, the more it costs,” Bryce said.

Options included interactive amenities, such as buckets to dump water on those in the pool, and various types of slides. Additionally different types of shade will be considered, as well as zero-depth entry for those who may not be able to climb in and out of the pool.

Different activities will be considered outside of recreational swimming, including swimming lessons, water aerobics, and lap swimming.

The pool board met Tuesday to listen to a presentation from Water’s Edge Aquatic Design outlining the different options, Bryce said. Next week, he hopes to have results back from them tallying what they believe to be most important.

Additionally public comments will be gathered, as well as comments from city commissioners.

Bryce said he hopes to have all of the information gathered in the next six weeks, in order to begin work on an actual design.

Working at this pace, Bryce added that he hopes to make up for lost time and still meet the May 2014 deadline for opening the pool.

“I’m still optimistic that we can meet that deadline,” he said.

Bryce experienced delays with the first company selected for the redesign, because contract negotiations could not be settled. After it was determined that the contract would not be agreed upon, Bryce contacted the current company.

This contract was approved at Monday night’s city commission meeting.

The current pool cannot be used due to a need for renovations. The pool was built before World War II and did not have many renovations up to now. It was closed several times last summer due to sand leaking in and cracks at the bottom of the pool.

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